showers to flowers (part 2)
“Flowers are happy things.”
– P. G. Wodehouse
T likes weeds. Most kids do, and to be honest, I like them too! I’ve never understood the desire for a plain old boring green lawn, I say bring on the pretty bits! Puff agrees with me wholeheartedly, and is a huge fan of all the little weeds flowers that grow abundantly in and around our yard.
Clover flowers are high up on T’s list of favorites, and in our yard there is an ample supply of these little white and pink darlings. A nice patch on the grass just beside our parking spot ensures that Puff picks miniature bouquets to bring to the people we’re visiting. Nonna, Aunt Ki, even her doctor and my midwife have been gifted with these at least once this spring. I don’t know if they all appreciate T’s sweet gesture as much as I do . . . Sometimes T forgets about them before we arrive at our destination. I have a plethora of dried clover flowers in the back of my car as proof positive of this. . . they make me smile when I see them, I know the days of sweet bits like this one are numbered.
Dandelions, to a child, are some of the most beautiful flowers there are. They’re just so vibrant and cheerful, and then they turn into old man dandies, and we get to make wishes and blow the fluffy bits all over the yard to make new dandies (much to her daddy’s dismay)! Of course, of the things Puffy likes SO much about them is that she’s allowed to pick them, and pick them she does. I’ve already lost count of how many dandelion bouquets I’ve received this spring, and I’ve loved each and every one!
But we all know that they really are weeds, as pretty as they are, I wanted T to be able to experience gardening without an actual garden – and the good ol’ dandies weren’t gonna cut it. When we were at a shop one day, T’s eyes fell on a pot of marigolds. She loved them, and wanted them. I thought it was a brilliant idea, so she picked the perfect bunch, and we brought them home with us.
First, she had to paint a pot – of course. . .
We called it her mac n’ cheese pot, because the color was so yummy looking. Then she added the green stripey bits (many of these are actually the letter ‘T’ for her name). I was amused by the fact that she chose the colors of the plant to paint the plant’s pot with (say THAT 3 times fast, I dare ya!). When that was done, we headed outside to play with some dirt (one of T’s very most favorite activities)
She did a great job planting her new friends – and had a great time, too.
Now they live on our dining room table, and T has been great about watering and watching. All of the original blooms are gone, but the plant has about 10 buds that we’re hoping blossom pretty soon.
Marigolds are great starter flowers for kids!
A couple of more flowery crafty bits before I close this blossoming post:
T loves playdoh, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when she started making “lollipop flowers” with it. We usually keep toothpicks in the dough bin to aid in keeping things together when we play (like to attach the heads onto the critters she demands I make for her). It wasn’t too long before she created an entire smooshy garden-full. Daddy let her dry this particular creation out, and a few days later, she added a sun! Puff’s little bit of sunshine has long since been destroyed, and the construction paper background is gone for good, but the garden remains as bright and vibrant as the day of its creation, and has found its way into a position of honor in the ‘backyard’ of the dollhouse she got for her birthday. The dolls that live there are taking great care of their garden. . .
Last, but surely not least on Tea-ball’s May flower list, is the one-of-a-kind fingerprint flower cards we made for Mother’s day! She had quite a bit of help with these – and my penmanship with a paintbrush totally sucks. Even with the wretched lettering, both of T’s grandmothers liked their cards. Unfortunately, Gammy’s got eaten by dogs, so we had to make a replacement. . . true story! (the dogs in question belonged to Gammy, and thankfully were not our own mangy mutts!)
If you look on the bottom right corner, you’ll see that T signed her handiwork – three cheers for T!
I think, for now. . . that’s all I have to say about flowers!
Huginn, Muninn, and me 